Old-school taxis need a high-tech boost

Updated 3:02 am, Thursday, April 18, 2013

Taxi driver Allie Gochberg has been negotiating the streets of San Francisco for the past 20 years.

Taxi driver Allie Gochberg has been negotiating the streets of San Francisco for the past 20 years.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 2

Taxi Driver Allie Gochberg who has been negotiating the streets of San Francisco for the past 21 years, proudly wears his shield as he makes his way down 5th street Tuesday, April 16, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. less

Taxi Driver Allie Gochberg who has been negotiating the streets of San Francisco for the past 21 years, proudly wears his shield as he makes his way down 5th street Tuesday, April 16, 2013 in San Francisco, ... more

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Old-school taxis need a high-tech boost

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Cabdrivers clearly feel under fire. This week the Municipal Transportation Agency decided to better serve customers by adding 320 taxi permits over the next two years.

And a report released last week also included the idea of creating a universal dispatch for all cab companies, not to mention getting the MTA to create an app that can compete with ride-share companies that taxi drivers feel are stealing their business.

When I wrote that I agreed with those moves, drivers made it clear that they thought I was either a complete idiot or pathetically misinformed. But Luxor driver Allan (Allie) Gochberg made an offer: ride with him and see for myself.

Gochberg let me tag along for about three hours from late Tuesday morning until the early afternoon, when he calls it a day after 12 hours. We listened to oldies on KFOG (Gochberg describes himself as an ex-hippie), and chatted up customers.

Gochberg, a 20-year veteran, made the familiar cabbie points. The only real cab shortage is during weekends. Ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber are stealing business. And don't get him started on the MTA.

"Those people can't fix Muni," he said, "and now they want to run my business?"

In all, we picked up just five fares during our time together, one a regular who was going to the Oakland Airport. Since it takes roughly $150 a day to lease the cab and pay gas, Gochberg wasn't getting rich.

"You need at least one airport a day or you are screwed," he said.

But watching him engage with customers, he also unintentionally made the MTA's case.

It seemed likely that with a few tweaks to the process - a universal dispatch system is a must - taxis could win the competition for riders. For starters, they'd get out and pick up someone.

"I don't see how those guys sitting in front of the Hilton waiting for an airport (fare) make it," Gochberg said. "So many cabs are concentrated downtown. Now, if I could get fares in the Sunset or Twin Peaks, I would be there."

That exasperated groan you hear is coming from the city's western neighborhoods.

"If you live in the Sunset, you know that it will take 45 minutes or longer for a cab to show up," said Carol Gilbert, who grew up there. "It doesn't take long to rule out the take-a-taxi option."

"I used to live in Washington, D.C., where we used to joke that the cabs were hailing us," she said. "Here, I've been somewhere like SoMa and found it hard to get a cab."

A report commissioned by the MTA also said customers should be charged an advance fee that would be paid only ifthe customer wasn't there when the cab arrived. It is a win-win - cabbies would know the rider would be there and customers could trust a taxi was coming.

"I have no problem with an advance fee," Gochberg said. "It would keep me from trying to find a flag (pedestrian) on the street."

Gochberg didn't want to discuss a universal dispatch system that would link all cab companies on one system. Cab companies want to keep their own dispatch systems.

But in the time we were riding, Gochberg's dispatch computer, which looked like something Radio Shack would have stocked in the early 1980s, pinged only a couple of times. That didn't seem very effective.

But if cabbies and taxi companies can stop complaining and get in the game with smartphone apps and universal dispatch, they might find that ride-sharing services don't have an advantage.

"I don't trust them," said fare Laura Scripture, who hailed Gochberg for a ride to the Embarcadero.

The MTA report said that riders prefer to ride in a well-marked, regulated and safe taxi service with a driver who knows where he's going. Passengers sometimes ask Gochberg if he has GPS.

"Right up here," he tells them, pointing to his head.

Guys like him are the best advertisement for the cab industry. With the modern tools they need to compete, taxis can not only survive, but thrive.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.